Tag Archives: baby

April 24, 2017
36 Comments

What’s In My Birth Bag

It feels SO crazy to have a corner of our living room that is piled with stuff to take to car as soon as I give Todd the word that it’s time to head off to the birth center here in Nashville. It’s only been recently that I finally finished packing my bag and I thought I’d share what’s inside (I love reading what other people packed and then what was helpful or not for them afterwards…). We sort of have a “two scenario” bag since we are planning on being at a birth center but we know there’s always a possibility we could end up at the hospital in case of a complication so we want to be prepared for either. You can stay at the birth center for up to 12 hours after birth, but most people go home around the 6 hour mark so it’s a little different need-wise from being at the hospital for 2-3 days. We definitely have some things that are only useful in one of the scenarios but it never hurts to have options just in case!

CLOTHING:
Long t-shirt for laboring
Slip on shoes (flip flops please!)
Change of underwear and socks
Sports bra for birthing tub
Nursing sleep bra and deep V-neck tops that are easy to nurse in
Pajamas (nursing friendly)
Going home outfit (I added a button up cotton dress and leggings and stretchy tank top as options)
Toiletries bag (have lots of giant pads and adult diapers at home for post partum but birth center and hospital provide those types of things along with peri bottle while there)

LABOR TOOLS:*
Essential oils (the birth center has a diffusor in each room so I’m taking lavender and orange oils)
Headphones for playlists, relaxing music, etc (birth center also has speakers for playing tracks out loud too )
Rice heating pad (they also have electric heating pads at birth center but you have to stay near the outlet to use that)
Pool noodle (sliced down one side to put over rim of birth tub for softer surface to lean on)
Washable bath pillow for birth tub
Massage Oil
Battery-operated candles for mood (aren’t allowed to have real ones!)

*Birth center has a ton of stuff already there like birth balls, rebozo scarves, birth stools, wall-mounted rungs to hang on, water birth tub, etc.)

FOOD + DRINK:*
Snacks for during labor (I have protein bars, almond butter packets, honey sticks, popsicles, and chicken broth as options and then coconut water and electrolyte water to drink)
Meals/snacks for Todd during labor (he needs to keep his strength up too!)
Frozen meal for after labor

*Definitely something that we would use more or less of certain items if we were at birth center (where Mom can eat and drink) vs. hospital (where they are a lot more restrictive on that and would serve meals while we were there). Birth center has fridge and small kitchen area where we can keep and prepare food.

MISC:
Charger for phones and camera
Camera
Change of clothes/toiletries bag for Todd
Swimming suit for Todd (birth center has a walk in shower for hydrotherapy)
Cooler for placenta (doing placenta encapsulation)
Nipple cream
Dermoplast for pain relief and stool softener (hey, no one said this was a glamorous process right? I also have organic sitz spray, but I’ll probably use that more once at home)

FOR BABY:
3 outfits/hats for Baby
2-3 receiving blankets/swaddlers
Car seat (love that this one is really safe but also really light to carry!)
Nursing pillow
Coconut oil (putting some on her bottom right away will help get the meconium off easier during those first diaper changes)

That’s basically it! It is really hard to know what you will want or feel like in a process that you’ve never gone though before, but I think we are about as prepared as we can be for first-timers. If there was something that you loved having in your bag the most let me know, I’d love to hear about it!

xo. Laura